Business Beat: Thirty years in business

By Medicine Hat News on June 20, 2018.

Community Futures Entre-Corp in Medicine Hat is celebrating 30 years of business.

During this time, we have helped more than 1,200 small businesses get started in southeast Alberta by helping entrepreneurs access approximately $32 million in loans, leveraging another $28 million, creating or maintaining another 3,452 jobs in the region. We have helped train thousands more through our training and seminar programs offered in the region.

We have been delivering business services to startups and expanding businesses in our region since 1988. We offer these primary services: Lending, small business advice, training and community economic development.

Community Futures offices are located all across Canada. They are strategically located in rural communities with a goal to provide programs and services that help create new employment and align with the needs of each community. Community Futures is part of the national Community Futures organization which is funded Western Economic Diversification Canada.

We are a non-profit corporation run by a volunteer board of directors who bring local knowledge and insight to the team for planning and direction. Day-to-day operations are run by experienced business professionals who have a like-minded passion to support and assist entrepreneurs and small businesses in our region.

As we reflect on the past 30 years, we have accomplished great things in our region.

Community Futures Entre-Corp has offered the Self-Employment Training program since 1993. This program is designed for people who have never been in business before. It is a seven-week program that focuses on the key elements of running a business. Topics covered include: GST/payroll, bookkeeping, income tax matters, understanding sole proprietorship/partnerships/corporations, pricing, cash flow budgeting, operations, market research, business plan preparation and many others.

Another long-standing successful program is the Alberta Youth Entrepreneurship Camp which has been held annually since 1998. This program has been helping create the next generation of entrepreneurs in our region.

Community Futures Entre-Corp is also part of the provincial support system called the Alberta Regional Innovation Network. The Regional Innovation Network collaborates to put their collective resources together to support and improve the development of innovations among small and medium-sized businesses. The Regional Innovation Network in Southeast Alberta is known as APEX.

For more information about how our programs can help your business, please call me at 403-528-2824.

Elizabeth Blair is the regional innovation network coordinator for APEX Alberta. APEX Alberta supports the growth of innovative and technologically-oriented businesses in Southeast Alberta. APEX Alberta is a collaborative initiative between three core service providers: Community Futures Entre-Corp, Medicine Hat College and Alberta Innovates.

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